Sprint's Family Locator Finds Kids, Sends Them Messages

Sprint today announced a new service called Family Locator. The application allows parents to register up to four Sprint phones, find their location(s) and send the messages. These are many of the same features that Disney Mobile will launch as part of its Family Center, and since Disney is built on the Sprint network, it is likely the two share technology and software. Sprint will charge $10 per month for unlimited location requests and 100 messages to each phone, up to four phones. The tracking and messaging application is compatible with 17 Sprint handsets and can track 30 different Sprint and Nextel phones.

I'm not sure I've got the basic premise down right. You'd be locating your kids through their cell phones? If they've got a phone, couldn't you locate them without this service? Okay, I'm lost. And stupid, apparently.

I'm not sure how this is going to work if they are actually using GPS since, GPS requires line of sight to work. If they are using GPS It wouldn't work if the person was indoors, the car or the phone was in a backpack or even your kids jeans pocket.

Its not true GPS in the traditional sense. Not direct to satellite, it uses the same triangulation via cell site that e911 GPS uses. Not as dependent on line of site, but does require cell signal. Same idea as all other LBS on the market, Nextel & ...(continues)

It's all in how you use the service. How about instead, "Dad (or sibling), I can't find my phone... I stopped into work before, but I was also at the drug store, supermarket, and Macy's. Or, maybe it's just buried in my car somewhere. I can't remember the last time I had it. Let's locate it."

For all of you kids out there that might be plagued with sick parents that really think they are better off knowing everything you do. Just turn on your call forwarding to a friends phone number and turn your phone off.